Tuesday, March 31, 2015

I have been
neglecting this blog! Unpardonable absence of more than two years. I am
offering no excuses for nothing I say would justify the neglect of a blog on a
topic so close to my heart.

But the
sudden return to it was prompted by one pen. Something which was so unique and
interesting I had to write about it. Not a costly pen. Not even an original
design. The pen in question is a Chinese replication, a veritable rip-offof one of my all time favourite, EDC (Every
Day Carry) pen: Lamy Safari. I am really, really fond of Lamy. I’ve lost count
of the number of Lamy Safari fountain pens I have gifted to friends, friends’
children and students. Lamy has also helped me convert many people to lovers of
Fountain pens.

I came
across this pen while searching the EBay for some Japanese pen. A bright yellow
Safari look alike just popped out of the pages and grabbed attention. Further
investigations revealed the same to bea
product from another favourite fountain pen company, Hero from China. I have
very fond memories of Youth and Hero pens made in China. Our School insisted
students use ONLY fountain pens for class work. In the early Sixties some decent
Indian fountain pens were available in the market. These included the
‘President’, Indian made Pilot and Durex . One could also find a few ‘Swan’
pens and a few Parker, but they were well above the reach of Middle School
students. Then came the affordable and smooth writing range of fountain pens
from China. Many of the fountain pens were eye-dropper fillers and most had the
problem of ink leak from the section-barrel joint. Youth and Hero, the more
popular Chinese pens had sac filling and no leakage issues. On top of that they
were extremely smooth writers with just the right amount of ink flow.Even today, I have a soft corner for pens by
these two Chinese companies.

No time was
wasted in pondering over the Hero 359 Summer Color, for that was the name of
the Safari look alike. One pen in the delicious looking passion fruit yellow
was ordered from EBay. I expected delivery to take at least 10 days, but was
surprised when it was delivered on the third day! A quick examination of the
package revealed that the seller was based in my own city, Faridabad! The pen
cost me all of Rupees 575 with free shipping!

Packaging

The pen was
packaged in one of those plastic blister packaging like the one used to pack
cheap electronic goods like Memory Cards. All markings and labeling were in
Chinese, at least I think so, except for the word “Hero”.

Overall
Impression

The pen is a
looker, no doubt. Almost an exact replica of the original Lamy. The length,
breadth and style are very nearly the same as Lamy Safari. While Lamy has two
rather flat sides for the barrel, the Hero has only one flat side.

The clip is
chrome plated in contrast with black anodized ones of the original. On top of
the cap, in place of a metallic screw with a slot on top, the Hero has a
plastic top with the Hero logo on it. The weight is very slightly less in the
Chinese pen.

Built and
design.

Even though
efforts were made to replicate the Safari as much as possible and in spite of
the minor difference pointed out above, the Hero version looks what it is; an
imitation, and a poor one at that. For example, the name Hero imprinted on the
side in the same font as the Lamy, has a shoddy and shallow finish.

The plastic
is also of much inferior quality and liable to get scratches easily.

After all,
what can you expect from a copy that is less than one third the price of the
original? I like the firm ‘click’ of the cap as it is pressed close, better
than that of the Lamy. In fact, one of my pet peeves about the Lamy is the poor
quality of the cap and they way it goes bad easily. The section and grip are
almost identical copy. The nib is also copied from Safari but in steel finish
compared to the black of Lamy.The
converter looks flimsy, though functional.

There are
many colours, all bright and cheerful, not exactly the same shades as Lamy, but
close matches, nevertheless.

Weight and
balance

I loved the
balance and the proportions. The cap is easily posted and with the cap in
position, the pen rests well in our hand. I have rather small hands, but I find
the pen comfortable to hold and write for rather long periods.

Nib and
write Quality

Having used
Hero pens extensively for a long time in the past, I had high expectations of
the quality of writing, even considering the low cost. I am happy to say the
pen did not disappoint me. The marking on the nib says ‘F’ and the pen is certainly
fine, though a bit thinner than the European F and broader than the Japanese F.
Writing is wet enough for my liking.

As for
smoothness, if I had not known it is a Hero, I could have easily mistaken it to
be a Lamy! So good is the smoothness of the nib. I’ve read poor reviews on the
net, but all I can say is, I’ve been lucky to get a good piece.

I intend to
buy a few more colours and other types of nibs like ‘M’ just to see how
consistent the quality is.

Now for a
few samples of writing in my terrible handwriting.

I have used BILT
note pads for the sample writing, but soon plan to switch to a better quality
paper like BILT 80 GSM Bond or something similar.